We build an indicator of individual subjective well-being in the United States based on Google Trends. The indicator is a combination of keyword groups that are endogenously identified to fit with the weekly time-series of subjective well-being measures disseminated by Gallup Analytics. We find that keywords associated with job search, financial security, family life and leisure are the strongest predictors of the variations in subjective well-being. The model successfully predicts the out-of-sample evolution of most subjective well-being measures at a one-year horizon.
Big Data Measures of Well‑Being
Evidence From a Google Well-Being Index in the United States
